The Whalefish was my most used instrument up to around 2005, and occasionally afterwards. It is a sort of one-man-band with many functions, and very flexible. It can be played sitting (usually), standing or walking, because it is totally connected to the body: around the neck theres a thong to which two piano strings attach to the soundboard. From the soundboard there are two wooden legs connected with a foot piece. The movements of the instruments are thus directly connected to the neck, foot and lap.
Apart from playing the strings, there are a number of objects to be played on the sound board (amplified with a contact microphone).

From the top left, there are: telephone bells, 7 piano strings, an almond grinder, a toy music box, a fire alarm bell, a door bell, wooden rods, a spring, protruding pieces of piano wire, a butter ball maker, hacksaw blades, an older instrument called the Hedgehog with a wooden tongue and rods and an egg slicer.
On the rear side of the Whalefish there are an African mbira, another egg slicer and parts of a coffee grinder. On the picture you see again the bells, the contact microphone and the fastening of the wooden and metal rods arrangement as well as the strings. The resonator plate comes from an old piano.

To go with it, a great number of tools are used, usually put in a special order in a violin case.